Skipping Stones
by SafeEyesOpen
Summary: "Except the nightmares weren't just dreams. Fear isn't an option. Only it is." One-shot for Starvation's a Hallows Eve contest.


_**One-Shot for Starvation's a Hallows Eve contest.**_

_**Read and review. **_

_***Note; Peeta was not including in the careerer alliance in this story.***_

Nightmares.

They are the very things that haunt your existence; the one place you can't be immune to fear. They reel you in, and hold you down, and as you wake, the only things you hear are your own screams drowning in themselves. They are inescapable, and while you slip into dreams, you forget your fear, so it creeps right back up and attacks you, because that's the thing about dreams; while they start off safe, a feeling of comfort and sleep, they blossom into things of deadliness, and drain all the sanity from you.

I can see myself in the reflection of the river next to the Cornucopia, waking from a sweat covered sleep and a shaken body. The faces of those I so heartlessly killed haunt my thoughts, and I can hear the screams of all those who voices I made cease to exist. I jerk up, my eyes now wide and alert, and remember that someone must be guarding. My eyes flutter over to my left, and a see an unimpressed Clove lazily tossing rocks into the river.

What is it like to dance across water? I watch the stone, and it flies before my eyes as if in slow motion. It first glides over the water, and then falls, but picks itself up right after. It jumps across six more times, and then finally cannot hold itself any longer, giving in and falling into the water. Only three bubbles come up as it sinks.

I must appear so naïve, being fascinated by the skipping rocks.

I look back at Clove, to see that she is staring back at me. "Why are you so interested in that?" She blurts out, unsuccessfully trying to keep a bored expression. She doesn't fool me though, I can see sudden twinkle in her eyes. The edges of my mouth twitch up into a trace of a smile, and I feel the blonde hairs that have fallen into my face tickle. "Because, it's as if," I start, waiting for her reaction. "It's like they're free, even if it's only for a little while." I whisper, knowing the Capitol wouldn't appreciate my words.

Then again, I think to myself, _if you don't want us to talk about it, then don't make it true. _She gazes back at me, awestruck, and I see her face retake its solemn, sarcastic expression as another member of the group groggily wakes up. It's Marvel. "Morning." He says cheerfully, and I can't help but smile back. Marvel is generally a good careerer. He's strong, talented, and has a great, positive attitude that never seems to falter. I hope I don't have to end up killing him, but it will be one of the only deaths I feel a bit of remorse about.

"Are we taking another watch, or do you want to get up?" He asks. I generally appreciate how Marvel doesn't assume the overly brute District One attitude, and rather likes being the follower instead of the leader. Honestly, it seems as though he'd rather be taking orders than making them, which works to both our advantages. "Might as well get up, the day is young, and we have some tributes to find." I respond, standing to yawn and stretch.

"Time to wake up Barbie…" I can hear Clove mumbling, and I can't help but laugh. I see her smile, large in the corner of my eye. Marvel takes the call to wake up Glimmer, the female tribute from his district. I have mixed feelings for the girl. First off, she has a natural, down-to-earth type of attitude that I have never associated with District One, yet her mentors force her to act prude and alluring, something I can obviously tell she is not. With the way she crosses her hands and legs over her exposed skin, and the way she lets her blonde locks fall and hang over her bare shoulders, I know this is not how she planned to win, yet listened, because these people must know what they're doing.

Secondly, I can tell her and Marvel favor one another, and the sad smiles and glances they share show that they understand they won't live past this, yet it's nice to live as long as possible. I would feel bad killing her too; because I know it's something Marvel would not hate me for, seeing he can't hate anyone, but he would never accept me as a human being for again.

Then, finally, all that's left is to wake the District Four girl, Amnibrine. She is small and delicate, as if she would snap like a twig, and I first underestimated her for it. Then, she proved her worth in training, demonstrating a vicious talent for spearing and throwing axes.

Once were all up and ready, we scour the forest and hunt out our potential victims.

* * *

I can see the blurry images before me as the sharp points penetrate my skin. I can hear the intertwined sounds of screaming and terror as the insects fly wildly, attacking those at random. _How did this happen? _I think to myself, just as it all comes back to me.

Glimmer was keeping watch last night, and we awoke first to her screams. Then, we felt the same, immobile pain she was experiencing. The tracker jackers came from all angles, and no matter how we swatted them and ran, they always seemed to catch up to us.

I saw Clove, Marvel, myself, and Glimmer get up and run, but Amnibrine didn't make it out as fast, trying her luck at burying in her sleeping bag. As soon as she realized that wouldn't work, she frantically attempted to remove herself, but alas, the attacks continued until she simply staggered away and collapsed at the edge of the camp we had made.

I looked to my left and seen Clove, and to my right was no one. _Where's Marvel? _I think, and an actual feeling of sadness immediately overtakes my body. I then see him panting behind me, and I turn around quickly, only in time to see his red eyes and streaming tears. I decide to look back and leave him to mourn, concluding that to him the inevitable has happened, and Glimmer was killed. However, I don't hear a cannon, so I wonder if he is holding on to the slim chance that she is still living, breathing.

Of course he is, who wouldn't be?

As we collapse into the area surrounding the Cornucopia, my thoughts wonder to how we are defenseless, and a feeling of fear sets in just as I slip into oblivion and a world of hallucinations.

The venom of a tracker jacker is designed to target fear in our minds, and find it, it does. The next few days, it seems, are horrid, and the worst part is that I can't tell where they start and where they end. My dreams start off in a world away from the games, my home, District Two. They go into my house, the home of my little twin brothers and even littler baby sister, Carawin. They sit in my home, alongside my mother and father, with expressions of terror upon their faces.

Then, the scene changes. Suddenly, they are in the arena, here, with me, and they are standing on plates and being risen into the arena. My body is immediately overtaken with fear. _They are here, in the arena!_ My mind screams at me, and the immediate will to protect my family floods my senses. I can then hear the gong ring out, and then we all run like hell towards the Cornucopia. There, I can see myself grabbing weapons at random, and thrusting them at my opponents.

But wait, I'm aiming for my family too, but it's not…me. Who am I? I can see myself, brute and vicious, hurtling weapons in every direction, and then I lift my arms and see the twisting, golden bracelet upon a scrawny, pale arm, and I know exactly who I am. The boy I just killed, so painfully, slowly, and heartlessly.

I then see myself turn towards me, as the boy, and come charging in my direction. I frantically start to turn away, but just like the boy, I falter in my footsteps, and fall to the ground with a thud. Then, myself, Cato, hovers over me, creating a deep shadow. "Please, don't!" I cry out, just as the boy had. Instead, I see myself laugh, and lift my sword above my head. "No, wait, please!" I scream, not caring how weak I look. I just want to live.

Suddenly, I can see how this is just like Clove, and her stones, and here is my first hit upon the water.

Then the sword goes through me and I drown out in my own screams.

* * *

After we awoke from the tracker jacker attack, the Careerer alliance consisted of only me, Clove, Marvel, and a newly recruited District Three boy, Adriat. He had convinced us to let him live, claiming he knew a way to reset the mines for us, something I had never, in the games history, heard of. But hey, the boy was from District Three, the place of wiring and electronics, so why not give him a shot. It wasn't like he could end up escaping us anyways, so we let him in.

Well, little Adriat sure proved himself, and tested it by setting off one of the original mines just to show it. Because of those actions, District Ten boy was discovered, so we had even less tributes to go through. Adriat now wears a seemingly relaxed smile, though I know he's shaking beneath the surface. If he doesn't expect me walking behind him, he flinches, and I just know he's terrified to discover his overall fait, in the end. He certainly knows he won't win, but is just holding up and onto the slim amount of time he has left.

As we sit here around our camp lazily, I can't help but notice how Marvel's expression has since sunk, and is more of a dazed, sorry feeling. It has to be over Glimmer. Then again, he had to of known that in the end, the inevitable would happen, and she would have to die for him to win. Unless, that is, he hadn't planned on winning.

I shake the thought from my head, Marvel's not stupid.

My mind wanders to what Clove and I have. It's not necessarily romantic, but we are more than friends, that's for sure. _Could you kill Clove? _I think to myself, and glance over at the brunette beauty that sits just to my left, the angle she has always stayed with. She is laid back, soaking in the heat of the high sun. Unlike many girls, she isn't one to complain about heat. Rather, she soaks it in and relishes in it, saying warmth is the greatest power, fueling everything.

That's when I notice it.

Just beyond the trees, and not to far from our camp, a green smoke is rising from a most likely unsuspecting tribute whose misfortune it was to not know the different woods smoke off more heavily. I say to the others quietly, "Look," with a point of my finger. Clove follows my glance and jumps up to fill her pockets with knives.

Marvel jumps up halfheartedly, and grabs his spears. While I contemplate whether or not to have Adriat come, Clove makes the decision for me, throwing a spear into his hands. With that, we take off, and I think I see the faintest sight of dark brown hair, like Katniss'. I ignore the feeling, and continue, thinking she's not crazy, if she got that eleven. Suddenly, anger fills my senses. How did the Gamemakers somehow deem her more worthy than me? I've trained my whole life, and she just got screwed when her sister was chosen.

I won't even feel bad killing her.

We run off towards the fire, and halfway there, we notice another has sprung up. This seems a bit to coincidental, so I ask Marvel to take off towards the next one. He nods, and runs off with the agreement to come back to camp afterwards. Me and Clove finally reach the fire, and see that there is no starter. Smart tribute, but I ran all the way out here, and I'm now going to find who did it.

I see Clove is antsy as well, so we take off in the direction of Marvel's fire. It's further out, so it's taking us a while to get there. After a few hours, we pick up the pace, taking off in a silent run. After a while, my ears pick up on screaming, and I look to Clove and whisper. "Do you hear that?" She stops and listens, and then gives a small nod. We take off in the new direction, only to watch as the sight before us unravels.

I see the little girl form Eleven, Rue, whose name I only know because I study those who live this long. It's pretty miraculous that she has made it this far, and I'm quite stunned that after all that she managed to end up here, entangled in a net. I then hear the words she's screaming. "Katniss! Katniss!" I stop, and look at Clove. So she's with Katniss, how odd. Katniss obviously has talents, so why would she choose to ally with someone so small and weak? Well, this girl is obviously smart too, because she wouldn't have lived this long if not.

I pick up my foot to take a sadistic step towards her, but Clove puts her hand on my thigh to stop me. I look at her, and she stares back, her glassy, blue orbs burning back into mine, saying the words that can't be heard. _Lets wait out for fire girl. _I slowly nod back, and crouch into a more comfortable, yet still hidden position. Finally, our patience is rewarded, with a full fledged Katniss bounding towards Rue. Clove starts to move, and this time it is I who stops her.

I want to see what she's going to do.

I see her approach Rue, and the small girl is immediately overcome with relief, like Katniss can protect her from anything. Hmm, I think to myself, _What is Katniss' skill? _"Rue!" Katniss calls out, and just as Rue starts to say back _Katniss, _the words are stuck on her tongue as she reaches her hand through the net, only to be silenced by Marvel's spear through her shrill body.

I'm suddenly paralyzed, and the next second is in slow motion. The small girls face contorts to fear and exasperation as the new come pain takes over her small body. She lets out a silent scream, eyes alarmed, wide, and wet with tears. She curls in towards her stomach, and her eyes plead for the pain to stop.

It's sick.

How could Marvel have just attempted to kill something so small, fragile, and innocent? Surely, she would have died out on her own without Katniss. _Katniss._ My gaze goes to her, standing shocked with widened eyes, fear, and anger written all over her face. Without hesitation, she pulls forth the arrows that had once belonged to Glimmer. _Ha-ha, stupid girl, you won't be able to shoot that. _But thinking back on it, she avoided archery in training. Or at the least, I never saw her there. And that's when she loads the arrow and shoots, her eyes craving blood, and landing on the only visible target.

Marvel.

I see the unregistered fear in his eyes as Katniss releases the quiver, and it instantly penetrates though his neck. My eyes widen in horror, as I see him frantically pull out the arrow, spew out blood, and hear his cannon sound. My eyes water, as I think weakly, _At least he's with his love. _His love, Glimmer, and her arrows, ended this poor, broken, boy.

That's when I look back to Katniss. The brunette certainly had a worthy talent, and that's when I register how there is another actual threat in this arena. She didn't hesitate, and while I would usually think of an outlying district as weak, Katniss certainly isn't, but her attention is now divided from tears spilling down cheeks to speaking to Rue.

"Did you blow up the food?" I hear Rue whisper, quietly, as if she cannot speak any louder. The food? Our food! I look to Clove, whose expression is strained, yet we wait for them to finish, wanting to know more. "Every last bit." Katniss answers back, tears falling down her pale cheeks. She rearranges the small girl so that her head lies in Katniss' lap.

"Will you sing?" She asks, and Katniss nods slowly. She thinks for a moment, and then starts out in a song, that first shocks me. Her voice…it is beautiful.

"_Deep in the meadow, under the willow,,_

_A bed of grass, a soft green pillow,_

_Lay down your head, and close your sleepy eyes,_

_And when you wake, the sun will rise._

_Here it's safe, and here it's warm,_

_Here the daisies guard you from every harm,_

_Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true,_

_Here is the place where I love you._

_Deep in the meadow, hidden far away,_

_A cloak of leaves, a moonbeam ray,_

_Forget your woes and let your troubles lay,_

_And when again it's morning, they'll wash away._

_Here it's safe, and here it's warm,_

_Here the daisies guard you from every harm,_

_Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true,_

_Here is the place where I love you."_

By this point, Rue's eyes have fluttered shut, and as Katniss' last tears roll down her cheeks and onto Rue, the girl gives one final huff of air, and her cannon sounds.

My heart breaks.

First Marvel, the boy who was so spontaneous and brave. He had his life ripped away from him, at the hands of those who were just as desperate. That's how we all were, desperate. Two more hits. My wings are faltering as I now hit the water, and Clove and I stare back at the one girl brave enough to do anything about it.

Second, for Rue. The girl was small, innocent, and breakable. In District Two, we are taught that young children are precious, which is why only older ones are allotted the opportunity to go into the games. I just witnessed a child get killed. Who am I kidding, on the first day alone I killed four children. What the fuck? What monster goes out killing kids for pleasure? I sadistically tortured, mutilated, and killed _children_. What's _wrong_ with me?

Two more hits, and now I only have three left.

* * *

Finally, there are only six of us left. Me, Clove, Katniss, Peeta, Thresh, and the girl from Five, Finch. As Clove and I sit out in the freezing morning air, I can't help but continue the counting that I have been doing since my last two hits. Counting, the days, minutes, hours, however it is, that I have left in this place. I hate it now, and going back on my actions, I don't even know why I wanted this. It's crazy, and I know everyone I see is going to die. Except Clove, of course.

We are waiting out by the Cornucopia, awaiting a feast that shall offer up things we need desperately, and at this point, that something could be anything. Katniss blew up, literately, everything. I needed something to take out my anger on, and that something sadly ended up being Adriat. Sad for him, anyways. Turns out, he ditched us and came back here, wanting to be safe.

Traitor.

So, thanks to that, were cold, starving, and _tired_. Tired of being here, tired from lack of sleep, tired of everything. Once we heard the announcement that everyone would be received what they needed, after the already incredible two victor rule change, all we had to do was have our weapons and remaining supplies ready. Here, we could take out Thresh, Katniss, Peeta, and hopefully Finch too. I turn to my right to consent with Marvel, and that's when I remember, he's gone. Along with Glimmer. And Amnibrine. And Adriat. And every other once living soul there was.

Was.

We've decided that Clove will be going out first, so that hopefully the others would think they could overpower one, small careerer. Now that we can both win, our heads are clearer, and not thinking about having to end the other. Once they pursuit, Clove will call for me, and we will kill them. All of them. And then we will win.

It's almost dawn, so where's the feast? I look around and examine our position. We are slightly farther out than we would like, but it is key in surprising the others. Finally, I look up and see the ground beneath the Cornucopia splitting, and a table rising up in it's place. For a split second, I think, _What happens is I fall in with the table? _Would I be free?

But those thoughts are gone as soon as my thoughts register on the contents of the table. There are four backpacks, each with a number on it. Two, Five, Eleven, and Twelve. One for each district. Before I can motion for Clove to go, a figure darts out of the Cornucopia. Finch. I can see her fiery red hair swing past as she grabs her backpack and takes off running. _How did she think of that? _My mind screams at me. It's simplistic yet brilliant, and now, Clove has to get out, and fast.

Seems Katniss has the same thoughts.

I see her, arrow in hand, braid swinging back, running at full speed for her bag. Clove kicks into overdrive, and takes off after her. She throws her knives, and just as Katniss senses a predator on the loose, she loads her shaft and I silently think to myself, _Please, don't let Katniss kill her. _Her arrow misses barely, hitting Clove's upper arm. Katniss runs as Clove pauses to inspect her wound. Then, she throws another knife, this one creating a gash across Katniss' forehead.

Katniss panics, and in her moment of hesitation Clove has bounded over and collapses on top of her. Both of them are small, yet Clove consists of more muscle, and easily pins her down. We are both aware that without bloodshed, the Capitol audiences will bore, and the Gamemakers will send in unwanted twist, so to avoid that, regretfully, we have to torture whoever it is we kill today.

Now, Clove has rolled over behind the Cornucopia, and she is obstructed from my view. I don't worry too much about it though, she's vicious, lethal, and deadly, and I have no doubt that she'll be giving the audience a good show. I sit back, anticipated, with a small smile on my lips, and that's when I realize, District Eleven's bag is missing.

"Cato! Cato! CATO!" Clove screeches, and I don't hesitate to come running, bounding forth at her call. I hear a loud small, and a deep voice yelling. "Just this time, Twelve, for Rue." And with that, I see Thresh, the District Eleven giant, slinging both his and my backpack over his shoulders, and taking off towards the fields that I suspected he had been hiding in. Katniss runs like hell in the other direction, taking to the woods as Finch had, and I curse to myself under my breathe. They all got away.

"Clove!" I call out, feeling uneasy when all I hear is a faint murmur. That's when I see the sight before me. Clove is in a mangled heap before the Cornucopia, and I see the blood spilling out of the dent in her skull and into the grass. My heart sinks, she's a goner. "No!" I yell out, falling to my knees at her side.

She looks up at me, her eyes burning into mine, and says the word that I only now know I can't do. "Win." She says, and it's more an order than a question. "I can't. Not without you." I tell her, my eyes watering. Her gaze becomes more persistent. "Please, for me." She asks feebly, and I know she doesn't have much time left. "Alright, I'll try." I tell her, as a tear slips down my cheek and onto her cold skin. "Don't try, do it." She tells me, a sad smile on her lips. "Congratulations early, soldier," She tells me, and she closes her eyes gently.

Her final breath is taken, and her canon sounds.

She dies with her head tilted, laying in the meadow, as if she is sleeping. I take my token, a light, golden ring, with engraved patterns of children fighting. I slide it onto her fourth finger, the finger that holds a victory ring in our district. My dad gave me his fathers as a token, and now I give it to Clove, the girl I know would have died for it.

It seems she has though, and she is now my fourth hit. Only two more strides across the water left.

I hold her hand in mine, enclosing it in my large hands, and lean my head forward into her. I fall into the grass, wiping the tears that have spilled beyond my blonde lashes. _She couldn't have died, she couldn't have. _I tell myself, but she has. She was only human, an extremely talented one. I can't leave her like this, she needs to be avenged and remembered. I see how the Cornucopia is made up of a giant, glittering, grey figure, and so I stand with my sword in hand and approach it.

I hack away at the strong material until finally a piece comes forth. I lie it on the grass, and cut it unevenly into the shape of a heart, and then I place it into her pocket. She was loved, and she needs to keep it with her. She will be reminded of all the lives she successfully took, and how proud she can be of herself. I take her pack off her, and take only one of her knives, knowing she would have secretly loved to die with them, her precious tokens.

She names them, so they appear more deadly and scary, and so I take a small, curved one, named Direvida, that I know she has always favored. I place it in my jacket, just as she has hers, and I brush her hair over her wound with my fingers. I lean down and plant a kiss upon her head, and retreat slowly, not wanting to leave her, ever.

I stand tall and take out after Thresh. He killed Clove, he ended her parade, and for that, I will show no mercy.

* * *

I can feel the icy rain water falling down hard and heavy. Then cold, blowing winds whip the water at my bare skin, and it feels as though it is cutting into me and setting in. Cold, I feel it inside and out, and as I stand here and fight it out with Thresh, the District Eleven monster who killed Clove so heartlessly, I honestly don't know if I can keep my promise.

"_Win." She says, eyes unblinking._

"_I can't, not without you." I tell her, showing my one weakness._

"_Please, for me." She begs, wanting me to take it all, for her._

"_Okay, I'll try." I agree, not promising victory._

"_Don't try, win." She states, smile on her lips. "Congratulations early, soldier." She says, and then she dies._

"I'll get you Eleven!" I scream out, thrashing around in the water, knowing he is near. He can keep running and hiding, but I'll just keep finding him. And I will kill him. I must sound crazy, and by this point, I'm not sure whether I am or not. People keep dying. I don't realize how major it is until I care for them, and that's the biggest rule of the Games. _Don't get attached. _All throughout my training, I have stuck with this rule, and mocked those who were weak and unable. But now, I see you have to. If not, there's no boundaries. If I trust them, that's the easiest beginning. I trusted Clove with my life, and her likewise. But I let her down, I let her drown in her own blood, just as Marvel had.

_Clove. Marvel. Glimmer. Amnibrine. Rue. Adriat. _Gone. All of them, and it's my fault. But Thresh, he took her, Clove, and now, he will pay. I finally hear his exasperated breathes and spot him behind a large boulder. "You can't hide!" I scream to him, knowing that he is utterly, and truly, helpless.

His blood spills along the stones, and I can only see it as a shade darker than everything else here. It's all black. The skies are dark, the clouds are grey, and the ground beneath is in a hectic flood, with mud, water, and dark stones and once green plants everywhere. My own skin appears dark and grey, and maybe by these points it truly is. It's been two days since Clove died, and now I can't fight off the affects of hunger, cold, and blatant _loneliness_. The Capitol has taken everyone from me, and now, there is next to no one left. There's me and Thresh of course, Finch, and Katniss and Peeta. How Peeta survived, I'm not sure, seeing he wasn't with Katniss. I wonder if they _are_ working together, or not.

I chase after Thresh, and finally we come face to face. I look at him angrily, as he attempts to scamper back like the weak, coward he is. "You killed her!" I scream at him, driven mad by the need for revenge. "Why?" I scream, wanting to know his answer. "Rue." He says harshly, and that's when I get it. We simply sat and watched as the poor, small, little girl was heartlessly killed. She had someone to care, and someone to avenge her, but that in no way owes the debt of life that was taken from her.

I drop my shoulders in defeat, and look at him, finally showing the cameras what I have forbidden them from seeing. Defeat, from me. "I'm just tired, Thresh, I'm tired of all this." I tell him honestly, wanting to collapse right here, right now. But I can't, not if I'm to keep my promise to Clove, I have to do this, and to win, they all must die, no matter what their circumstances were.

"I'm tired too, and I'm ready to end this. Please, just make it quick." He pleads, accepting death, yet fearing pain. "I don't want to dwell on the memories of my life, I just want to go, freely." He says, continuing to convince me. "You want me to snap your neck?" I ask him, astonished. "Please. Just get me out of here." He whispers, tears spilling from beyond his lashes.

I see him in an entirely different light now. Not only is he only human, but he is weak, mortal. Nothing makes him better than us, because we can't live forever, and accepting fear…that's the first step towards closure.

"Alright, if you truly want this." I tell him, taking steps forward. "For Rue." He whispers to himself, and after her mumbles, "I loved you guys, Allictrai and Gran." I turn his head in my arms, and with a final crack, he is gone, and his canon sounds. I stumble in the rain, in envy of his actions. How badly I want to go, just _go_, and have it be quick, painless, and easy.

I throw myself into the gravel, still grey and bleak, and let the cold water rush over me. I'm freezing, absolutely freezing, and I'm tired. I'm tired, cold, and done with living, and more than anything I want out of this crazy ass arena, with its cold victims and brutal opponents.

Thresh is gone, and with him my one will to live. Another stone has hit the water, and now I only have one left. One last falter, and then I'll fall beneath the waters and won't come back up.

There's four of us left, me, Finch, Katniss, and Peeta. _I promised, Clove, I did. _I think to her, but another thought wrings through my head. _Promises are made to be broken. _

* * *

Finally, there's only three. It's down to me, Katniss, and Peeta. As I stalk through the woods to find them, I feel that the armor that was in my backpack is very heat absorbent, and I'm sweating even more than usual. _Calm down, you only have one bounce left. _I think, warning myself. No slip ups tolerated, I promised.

I scour the giant woods for signs of them, and with that, I see the sky is falling, and is now setting, though it is only mid afternoon. I continue, an uneasy feeling in my stomach telling me to go a different way. I ignore it, and continue. I cannot be weak, and I most certainly cannot be scared. Fear is not an option, only it is. I tug through the dense trees and finally, the feeling of vibration below my feet snaps me to my senses. Something is coming, and that something is coming fast. I jerk my head from side to side, when I see the giant, ten foot dog about a hundred yards to my left. It's Clove's side, and the dog looks like her too, with blue eyes and dark brown fur.

_It's an illusion, it's not her. _I tell myself, and then my feet react and run like hell. Whatever that is, it's not natural, which means being here in the arena, it's designed to tear me to shreds. I wonder if they even want me for victor anymore, now that they have Katniss and Peeta, the,_ Star-Crossed Lovers, _or whatever the Capitol is calling them now. As I think back to it, when I was starving and bloodthirsty, the era of death upon me, no sponsors came. Have they all gone over to Katniss and Peeta? Then again, why wouldn't they have at that point? I was crazed, lost, and confused. Katniss and Peeta are wherever, obviously in love or something, or they wouldn't have made the rule change, allowing two victors. Katniss is skilled with a bow and arrow. Extremely. And as for Peeta…he could be good with anything.

My mind returns to reality, and I see that the hunt has increased. Two more wolf, dog, things, follow suit after the Clove lookalike, and these two seem to look familiar too, one with light blonde fur, and another with a deep wheat color. I decide to remember the advice that you run faster when not facing backwards, and I take off at a faster sprint. It's really dark now, and it seems the temperature has dropped a bit, too.

Finally, when they have neared to my left, where Clove always stood, I panic, letting fear get the best of me. I let out a scream, and see that I am nearing the Cornucopia. I burst through the trees drenched in sweat and see Katniss and Peeta, standing by the lake, their words frozen on their startled expressions. I see Katniss fumble for her bow and I run faster, knowing one thing, _I don't want to die. _I see that Katniss has a weakness too, she doesn't want to kill me, but understands it is the only way. If they are both to survive, then I must die, and it is with irredeemable terror in her eyes that she releases the bow. I close my eyes, stopping my run momentarily, knowing that it won't falter. I'm already as good as dead, anyways. Then, it hits me, and I remember, I have on full body armor, the one sent in with my backpack.

I brute smile creeps up on my lips. I'm not dead yet.

I see Katniss running, and I know that she must have finally seen the mutts. Peeta, however, is not there. She comes to this realization just as I do, and turns for him. The kid just isn't as fast as the huntress, and as she runs, he staggers back, mesmerized or something, though I know that's not the case. I see them try and scope the Cornucopia just as I do, and as soon as my hand touches the metal, it burns. Though the sky is cooling, the Cornucopia hasn't, so I swallow my pain and scale it, knowing it's a matter of life and death. Finally, we have both reached the top, and I see it is now slick with blood. Peeta's calve has a hole, and I see that the mutts below have razor sharp teeth, made to slice to the bone. I shudder, and dawn back to reality.

Finally, realize that no matter how heartless and cruel it is, I'm going to have to use the girl as bait, for him. I grab her, pinning her thin, yet surprisingly strong body against the edge of the Cornucopia, and push her head back over the edge, where the mutts growl and thrash about at her hairs level. She lets out a faint shriek and suddenly I'm in the air. Peeta has grabbed me and flipped me off her, bad leg and all.

I'm not only startled, but shocked, and finally I realize how it must go. I grab Peeta now, twisting him into my grasp, and shoving him into a headlock, cut off from air. Katniss' eyes say everything she can't, and probably won't. They beg, and they are desperate. _Please, let him live. _I see the boy struggling, and stare back, a small smile creeping onto my lips. I must look like such a monster to her.

Finally, she hopelessly glances at Peeta, who she must know can't escape. Her loaded bow still points to me, as if by some chance I may let him go, and I then feel Peeta's fingers lightly touch my hand. Then, I know, and before I can jerk away the arrow has penetrated my skin and Peeta has shoved me backwards.

It all moves in slow motion after that. I feel the sensation of…freedom. As I fall off the blood slick metal, I know I'm glad that they have won. I killed people, committed horrendous actions, and did unspeakable things. All in the just of what? Fun? Who the _fuck _finds it fun to kill off other kids? A monster, like me, that's who. It's so unjust, what the Capitol forces upon us districts. We do everything for them, fuel their riches and survival, and for what? A reoccurring death game each year?

Finally, my body slams into the ground, and before I have the chance to die, pain sets in, as the teeth of mutts sink into my flesh. I was right; she did look like Clove, because it is her. All of the tributes numbers are on a collar worn around their necks, and I realize to survive, a new possibility, I must kill them all, even her. I fumble momentarily to retrieve a sword that was hidden on my body, and I lash out upon them. One after one they come, each new bite raking my body with pain and horror.

Hours go on, until there are nine left and ultimately it's simply too much. I'm going to die, and I know it. I fall, unable to stand any longer, and they sink in. The only feelings I have are pain, sorrow, and overwhelming regret and self pity. I brought this fait upon myself, and here I am, made a fool of as it literately, eats me alive. I know I have mangled, ripped away limbs; I can see them blood stained, littered all over the ground. Yet, I feel nothing. Just emptiness, and finally I can't stand to live anymore, no feeling, just fear, and I realize that this was always my final hit.

Fear. It owns us, and though we feel we can control it, that's simply an illusion. It overwhelms the senses, controls our actions, and sees fit to punishment. I pushed it aside, yes, but it always comes back, because nothing is gone forever. The rain always manages to fall from the clouds again.

I feel heat once more, and assume that dawn has risen again. I sense Katniss can see me, so I make my lips move, and I say _Please, _knowing I want out of it, and as the rush of air nears, I take my final leap and fall into the water, a swallowed stone, and then the arrow hits me.


End file.
